Thursday, October 14, 2010

A table Re-do

We've had this table for 6 years but for 20+ years before that it was my family kitchen/dining room table. Birthday's were celebrated around it, friends & family gather by it's side, homework and tutors made their mark, and memories were made. When we were "gifted" the table it was a back up, with plans to get something we liked within some time. As a newly married couple we had hopes of new dining sets, espresso finishes, modern lines, and something that screamed us. Little did we know that "us" was something that could not be determined within in the first year of our marriage (as we are noticing with other first year purchases) and "us" didn't have any money when we first got married. So a free table won and we welcomed it with open arms.

Last weekend after months, no years of browsing stores and catalogs we decided to take the table into our own hands. We've found our style and more so - I've stopped rejecting my roots as a girl who loves herself some distressed pieces that look like they've spent years in a farm house or were rescued from a barn. I grew up in the midwest and I can't deny those county decorating roots - now we try to steer clear from powder blue & mauve and you won't find forest green in our home unless it's Christmas but we enjoy some french country style.

When I saw this table & chair set I knew that it was speaking to me and my kitchen.

I'm a sucker for barn red anyway, so the chairs (and cabinet) drew me in. I also have a weakness for not being "matchy matchy" so this set played to that affinity too! I showed it to the mister and we set out to create our own, much cheaper, PB kitchen set.

Very similar, right?? We'll work on our letter chandelier later (hahaa) & the plates aren't far from hanging on the wall oh and I'm gonna need to be on the look out for a rug like that (that doesn't cost a gazillion $$ :)

yup, these pictures aren't so great - I need to take others, maybe she just wasn't up for the photo shoot

All "falled up" and no place to go ;)

Let's just say we gave our table a face-lift & it looks 30 years older :) The years of pencil pushing, silverware sliding, craft creating, and homework happening around this table gave it just the distressed look we were going for and we couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!!

The table is solid oak and was a very light oak color (which would look like laminate, since no one in their right mind would actually pay someone to stain their table that way...kidding mom & dad, love the table!)My husband brushed the stain on and then I followed him and wiped it off with a rag (lint free cotton rag bought in a pkg at home improvement store) We did this process on the top problem 3 times and achieved the streaked, aged, distressed look that turned out perfect. Trust me it was by no planning that this occured but we LOVE what the outcome was. We had been given several ways to stain and they all held the same principle, USE A RAG!! This is key and altering the stain color. Don't wipe off if you want darker wipe off if you want lighter. In our case we applied wiped off, applied wiped off, and applied wiped off again. Each time achieving a bit of a darker shade. The stain we used was MINWAX Wood Finish (penetrates, stains & seals) in Dark Walnut (2716) We put 3 coats of poly over that once it dried to make sure that it sealed and cured since we would like this table to last ANOTHER 30yrs before we have to touch it [or at least half that long ;)]

Thanks for all the compliments - we LOVE it and are so glad that we finally tackled it :)

I have my parents dining set too. I got it when I was in my 20's 25 years ago and now the table is over 50. It has a laminate and my parents thought it was solid teak. Well when it was redone it was ok but over time it looks awful, especially after it was with me. I tried to put oil on it and everything but... Anyways, now I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I'll probably have to just paint it cause it's beyond refinishing. Your set looked good before and now it looks amazing. I too love the barn red too because it reminds me of Swedish cottages.

Saw your table redo on Better After! I must say, that is seriously the most beautiful table I have ever seen! I would love to do that to our table! I definitely would love to know how to do it! Thank you for sharing pictures!

Who Goes There?

What happens here...

This is a place where I can share, display, and potentially sell some of the woodwork and crafts I create.DLF Designs is a play off my initials but currently stands for Decorating in my Limited Free-time